DUI Lawyer in Korea for Foreigners

What is the DUI threshold for foreigners and SOFA personnel in Korea?

Road Traffic Act art. 44 sets the 0.03% criminal threshold. SOFA status changes who holds the person, not what the breath number means under Korean law.

Refusing a breath test is its own count. Ask counsel before you treat refusal as a shortcut.

Does SOFA status change a Korean DUI stop?

SOFA can change who holds you and which commander is notified. It does not rewrite Road Traffic Act art. 44. The 0.03% line still governs the Korean criminal file.

Tell counsel the status on the card you hold before anyone assumes “military case, Korean court later.” Both clocks can run at once.

What is the clock after a Korean DUI stop?

Last drink, observation period, and the gap to the official test belong on one timeline. A medical condition that affects breath results has to be written down that night, not a week later.

License action can move faster than the criminal indictment. We plot both tracks on the first call.

What are the fines, license, and detention risks?

Road Traffic Act art. 148-2 sets the criminal range that rises with BAC bands and priors. License suspension or cancellation is a separate administrative file.

Repeat DUI during a suspended sentence is how people go from a fine conversation to custody. Priors must be on the table immediately.

Can a DUI stop my Korean visa renewal?

A DUI conviction is a criminal record. Stay extension and, for some statuses, removal risk are read from that record, not from “it was only a fine.”

SOFA and civilian visas are different doors. Tell us the status on the card you actually hold.

Should I refuse the breathalyzer?

Do not decide that at the roadside without counsel. Refusal can be charged separately and still leaves blood-test options on the file.

If you already blew, keep the ticket, the time, and any hospital paper. Then call 1600-9886 before the next station interview.

Have similar foreigner files been handled at this desk?

Suspended sentence — DUI hit-and-run injury: suspended sentence

Fine — Hit-and-run after a DUI crash: non-prosecution on fleeing; DUI alone indicted

Not forwarded (insufficient evidence) — Failure-to-take-measures charge not forwarded after proving no awareness of the crash